Circular-knitting machine



W. E. SMITH. CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 17, I9I9. 1,347,186.

Paten ted July 20, 1920.

5 SHEEIS-SHEET I.

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS W, BYagb f .IIIIIA W. E. SMITH.

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE. -APPLICATION'HLED MAY 17, 1919.

Patented J uly 20, 1920.

5 SHEEIS-SHEET 2.

ATTORNEYS W. E. SMITH. CIRCULAR KNITTING'MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAYH, 1919.

Patented July 20, 1920.

5 susn's-suzzr 3.

W. E. SMITH. CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE. APPLICATION man mun. 1919.

Patented July 20, 1920.

5 SHEEI S-SHEEI 4- ATTORNEYS W. E. SMITH. CIRCULAR- KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAYII, 1919.

5 SHEEISSHEEI 5,

A ORNEY$ Patented July 20, 1920.

- tial course UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM E. SMITH, OF MILLTOWN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIG-NOR TO THE INTERVVOVEN MILLS, INC., OF NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

CIRCULAR-KNITTIN G MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent. 7 Patented J l 20 192() Application filed May 17, 1919. Serial No. 297,763.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, lVTLLIAir E. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Milltown, in the county of Middlesex and State of N w Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in \Circular Knitting Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

'My invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described reference being had to the accompanying drawings which illustrate an embodiment of my invention selected by me for purposes ofillustrat ion, and the said invention is fully' disclosedin the following description and claims.

The object of my invention is to provide simple mechanism' for knitting seamless tubular fabric by circular knitting in which a segmental portion of the tubular fabric may be made shorter than another se mental portion of the fabric by omitting partial courses of stitches through the shorter segment of he fabric, and thereby forming partial courses ofstitches in the segment to be lengthened between adjacent "circular coursesjof stitches. More specifically, my invention relates to a stocking knitter and contemplates the provision of means whereby the top portion of the foot of a stocking is mace shorter than the corresponding sole portion of the foot, by omitting partial courses of the circular knitting through the top of the foot, and thereby knitting pars in the sole portion of the foot between a: acent circular courses so that the top portion of the foot shall be from a half sis-:e to a size shorter than the corre'soonding sole portion of the foot, to fashion the stocking to the shape of, the foot, and prevent the formation of wrinkles upon the top of the foot and instep when the stocking is worn. ,To this end my invention consists in pr0- 'ding mechanism whereby during theknitting of circular-work, as in the formation wt of the stocking, those needles t the segmental portion of' the aorie forming the to'pof the foot .7 illiklliill i a i forming stitches with the main knitting thread, which is supplied to all the needles, and preferably by placing such needles in an inoperative position with respect to the tpredetermined times, prevented from knitting cam or cams therefor and feeding the thread thereto below the latches thereof, so that when the needles are again operated normally for the drawing of a stitch, they will cast off the thread delivered to them below their latches, thus throwing it to the center of the tube where it forms a float and is subsequently cut out, thus eliminating or omitting a certain number of par tial courses from that segment of the tubular fabric which forms the top of the foot of a stocking.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown my invention embodied in a stocking'knitter of the type known as the Banner machine (see patent to I-Iemphill, 933,4i3, September 7, 1909), and in the said drawings I have illustrated so much of the Banner machine, in connection with the additional parts applied thereto for the purpose of carrying out my present inven tion, as are necessary for a complete understanding of my invention; I have also illustrated diagrammatically the stocking produced by my improved mechanism.

In the said drawings,

Figure 1 represents a top plan view of a stocking knitter of the well know type of Banner machine, having embodied therein, my present invention.

Fig. '2 is a partial end elevation of the machine. V

Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the mechanism which I have embodied in the Banner machine for the purpose of carrying out my invention, certain portions of the machine being omitted for the sake of clearness, as for example, the bracket carrying the thread guides and knitting rams, and the pickers.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged top plan view of a portion of my improvedapparatus includ ing the auxiliary needle elevating cam, the means for supporting and actuating the same, and means for holding the adjacent picker out of the path of the needle nibs during the production of a partial course, the needle elevating cam being illustrated in retractedposition,

Fig. 5 represents a similar view of the same apparatus showing the needle elevating cam in operative position and the picker held out of the path of the needle nibs.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the auxiliary lowering camand the mechanism for supporting and actuating the same, the cam be ing shown in operative position with respect to the needle cylinder.

Fig. 7'is an enlarged detail View showing the cam and lever for throwing the mechanism for knitting a partial course through the sole of the foot or elsewhere in the stockinginto and out of operation, and the parts immediately connectedtlierewith.

Fig. Sis a side view of the cam and CZII'ILSllOWIl in Fig. 7. V F ig. 9 is a detail view showing one pattern wheels of the Banner machine, the

" pattern chain engaging the same, andcam carried'by one of the chain links'for 1ockiiig the partial course mechanism out of operative position.

r Fig. 10 a plan view of the cam ring of the machine as it would appear if out and l from a segment of the tubular fabriciand the position oftlie main knitting thread as it is fed to said needles.

spi'eadqout iii a plane and showing the auxiliarycam for raising and lowering certain of the needles of the circular series into and out of operative position with respect to the knitting cams. i= i 11 isv a; diagrammatic view representing the diiieren-t relative positions of the long and short nib needles fduring' circular work when a partial course is to be'omitted f .4 Fig.12 is a diagrammatic view of a stock ing'fproduced by the mechanism illustrated in-the I preceding fiigu'i'es.

Fig 13 represents diagrammatically the circular series of needles and ill'ustrates'themanner inwhichthe main knitting thread is fedto and knit-thereby duringthe production of circular and i ig circular work.

In carrying out my invention I -pro.vide the ordinary and well known Bannerstocking' knitter with. a circularseries of needles of ordinary form, the needles knitting the rear portion of the leg of the stocking, the heel sole and toe one of which is illustrated 7 u a u a I i at 100 in Fig. 11 being provided with :a

short :iiib indicated at 101, the needles knit-;- ting the front ofthe le o f I the stocking and top of the foot, one of which is indicated at 102in 11, being provided with along nib indicated at 103. T he Banner machine is provided with the usual knitting earns, in.

v dicated' at 104-, the structure andloperation of which n'eednot he specifically described herein, as they are constructed and operate in-the usual and well known way '(see Fig.

10), aiid the'machine is also provided with the usual raising and lowering cams, ii di-"" catedat '105.106 which are mounted on a vertically movable slide 107 and are adapted to be actuated under the control of the pattern mechanism through a link 108 and'bell crank lever .109, for example, as shown in- :Fig. 10, whereby they may be raised and wheel oi the partial courses, durlowered at the beginning of and at the conclusion respectively of reciprocating work.

These cams 105.106 are so constructed as to engage only the longnib needles and when 7 the slide 107 is raised at the begimiing of reciprocating work, the longnib needles,

which knit the front part of the leg and top 7 of the stocking, will be elevated by the cam 106;,to such, a position thatthey will not be actuated by the knittingcam, the needles being maintained in elevated position by friction between the needles and their grooves, and alsoby frictional contact with a surrounding coil spring, indicated at 110 'cam, indicated at 1, and auxiliary lowering cam, indicated at 1, on OPPOSHIG. sides of the knitting cam, are'so arranged that when in operative position they will engage the long nibs=103 of theyneedles 102, but do not 7 engage the short nibs 101 of the needles100. When the machine is knitting circular work,

asinthe foot of the stocking, if the auXiliary cams 1 and 1 are in operative position,

the long nibneedles will be raised "by the V 7 raisin cam Iso that as they pass the thread guide or" guides, indicated at lllin Fig. 1, which arestationarily supported and located adjacent to the knitting cam, the main knitting thread, whether comprising a, single yarn or a plurality of yarns, will be fed to the'long nihneedles 102 below the latches thereof as shown in Fig. 11, and as soon'as each needle has received itsthread in this positiomand has passed the stitch forming or knitting cams 104 ofthe machine, it will be drawn down by 'tlie'auxiliarycain l ceive the thread: in the hooks thereof, and

are actuated bvthe' knitting cam 10% to form a stitch with the thread which hasheenffed to thehooksofthe needle, while the thread; previously" fed below the latch is cast off to thereby preventing the thread from getting into the hook of the needle. .4 X'Vheii the nefrt circular conrse is knit, the needles 102- are not raised by the auxiliary ,cam 1 and: ref

the-reenter oi the cylinder and becomes a float thread ezitending fromfone :side' :o'f-the tube-across to the other, 'asshown at 112 in Fig. 13, -which is afterwardc t-outlat points indicatedby the dotted lines Fig. 13,aftcr the completion of the stocking or other tubular fabric. 1 By operating these auxiliary raising and lowering cams parindicated at 11 between the dotted lines tial courses can be formed at any point during circular knitting, and corresponding partial courses omitted from the, other segment of the fabric, thus making the seg ment containing the partial courses longer than the segment from which the partial courses are omitted, as will be readily understood In the machine shown in the drawings, I have illustrated mechanism under control of the pattern mechanism of the Banner machine whereby these partial courses canbe formed when desired at intervals through a section of circular work, as the foot of the stocking, for the purpose of making the sole of the stocking longer than the corresponding segment of circular knitting forming the top of the foot, and the mechanism herein shown and described, is constructed to produce a partial course in the sole portion, and suppress a correspond ing partial course in the top of the foot in every fourth course during the knitting of the foot portion of the stocking. My inven-' tion is not confined to knitting the partial course in every fourth course, as it may be in every other course, or at other desired intervals throughout the foot or portions of the-foot only, as hereinafter morefully explained. V

' The auxiliary raising cam 1 consists of a curved plate having an inclined upper edge,

and is conveniently mounted on a horizontal slide 2 supported in an actuating groove in a block 114 secured to the top plate 115 of the Banner machine. The slide 2 is actuated in this instance by means of a lever 28 pivoted on the block 114, and provided at one end with a yoke or slotted portion engaging a pin 117 on the slide, the other end of the leverbeing connected to an actuating rod 27, which receives its motion from a horizontal lever 23 pivotally secured to and beneath the top plate 115 of the machine, and

actuated by a segmental cam llon a cam wheel 10 which is so drivenas to make one complete revolution to each four circular courses, or in other words four revolutions of the needle cylinder 116." The cam wheel 10 is shown in detail in Fig. 8, and is provided on its outer face with a segmental cam 11 which extends in this instance three quarters of the way'around the cam wheel leaving an open space indicated at 11*, which corresponds to the one course in four during which a partial course is suppressed in that segment of the fabric knit by the long nib needles. If it is desired to suppress the partial course in every other course of knitting, it would simply be necessary to cut out the opposite quarter segment of the cam 11,

1111, and by so timing this camrwheel, andarrangingthe cam thereon, any desired interval between the suppressed courses can be secured. The lever 23 is provided at its rear end with an inwardly extending arm 23 to engage the cam 11 on the cam wheel 10 and the lever is held in engagement with the cam wheel, and drawn toward the cam wheel by means of a spring indicated at 23, in this instance secured to the frame of the machine. The forward end of the lever 23 is bent upwardly to form a vertically disposed arm 24 provided in its upper end with an aperture through which the rod 27, previously referred to, loosely extends, and is provided with a cotter pin 27 (or collar). On the rod 27 is a loose sleeve 25, the outer end of which engages the arm 24 of the lever 23, while the inner end of the sleeve engages a coil spring 26, the other end of which engages a cotter pin 27 (or collar) on the rod 27. It follows from' this construction that when the lever 23 is moved in onedirection by the cam 11, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 7, the. arm 24 of the lever will bear against the sleeve 25 and spring 26 and move the rod 27 yieldingly (to the left in Figs. 3 and 7) in a direction to effect the retraction of the slide 2 and auxiliary. raising cam 1, and the parts will be held in this position as long as the lever 23 is engaged by the cam 11,v that is to say, in the present construction, during three circular courses, during which the auxiliary raising cam is held out of operative position and 'all theneedles of the circular series knit to form circular courses. When the arm 23 of the lever 23 passes off of the. cam 11 the lever will be actuated by the spring 23 to move the lever in a direction opposite tothat indicated by the arrows in Fig. 7, thereby causing the arm 24 to draw the rod 27 in such direction (to the right in Figs. 3 and 7), as to move the slide'2 and auxiliary cam toward the knit ting cylinder. 116 and into operative relation with the .long nib needles, wherebyall of the long nib needles will be raised by the inclined face of the auxiliary raising cam 1, as indicated in Fig. 3, said needles being raisedto the position indicated in Fig. 11 so. as to receive the thread below the latches thereof. Before the next course is reached in'the machine, the lever 23 will be again actuated by the cam 11 to withdraw the auxiliary raisin-g cam 1.

lhe'auxiliarylowering cam 1 is located onv the opposite side of the stitch forming cams fromtheauxiliary raising cam 1, as before stated, and is preferably carried by a slide2" mounted on the block 114. This cam is moved into and out of operative position, in this instance by means of a bell crank lever 32, one arm of which is forked or slotted to engage a pin 117 a on the slide, while the other arm is connected to a rod 31, the outer end. of which extends loosely through anaperture 'in a horizontal lever 30 and is provided with a coil spring 118 on the outer side of the lever 30, the outer end of which engages a cotter pin v119 extending through the rod 31 (or collar secured there- I to), the said rod 31 being provided with a cotter pin 120 (or. collar), which-is engaged by the inner face of the lever 30 The lever 30 is pivoted to the top plate 115 ofthe machine, and has its forwardly extending end located in such position that it will be engaged by the endof the sleeve on the rod 27 when} the said sleeve is pushed in ifar enough by the arm 24 of the lever 23, and

' I the lever is actuated in the opposite di-v rection by the spring 30 which actuates the said lever and the rod in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3, and tends to" hold the cam 1: normally in opposite position. 7

During the knittingof a circularfabric in which partial coursesare to be suppressed,

in the foot of the stocking, itisnot necessary to wlthdraw the auxillarylowering cam every time the auxiliary raising cam iswithdrawn as the presenceof the auxiliary lowering'rcam .in operative position'has no effect unless the long nib needles have been raised. iVhile obviously the auxiliary lowering cam 1 could be withdrawn simultaneously with the auxiliary raising cam ifidesire'd, I prefer to allow it to, remain in operative position during'the knitting, of thetubular portion of thelfabric in'which partial courses at-the desired intervals are omitted or suppressed, and to simply insure the withdrawal of the auxiliary lowering cam during the knitting T of other, portions of the fabric as the leg and heeland toe ofthe stocking. Consequently thelever 30 will be so located at; its forward end that it will notbe engaged by the sleeve 25 during the normal movements of the sleeveto move the auxiliary raising cam out of operative position, but will be actuated an additional movement of the lever 23 be-' yond that imparted to it by'theactuating V cam 11, at which time both auxiliary cams will be locked out of operativeposition, so thatthetoe pocket of the stocking can be knit by reciprocating work, and the leg of the next stocking may be knit by circular work, and the heel pocket iofthe next stocking knit by rcciprocatingwork, before the auxlliary camsare agaln allowed to operate.

To effect this I employ a finger 22 on a rock shaft 21. mounted in a bracket secured to'the side of the machine frame (see particularly Fig. 3) ,said rock shaft being "provided with an arm 20f connected by averticafrod 19 which depends therefrom and passesthrough I a guiding bracket 18 secured to the frame of the machine, the lower end of the rod 19 extending through the guide 18 and in a position to be engaged by cam 51 on the periphery of acam wheel 50, formingpart of .the pattern mechanism of the Banner machine; The vertical ro:,d 19 is also provided with a, forwardly extending locking arm 18 rigidly p and preferably adjust ably secured thereto in position to beengaged and, raised by a cam 15 on a horizontal rock shaft 121 mounted in a bracket on the front portion of the machine frame, said rock shaft being provided with an arm :16 normallyxacted upon by a spring 16'? to depress said arm into engagement with the pattern chain 17 of the Banner machine and hold the cam 15 out ofoperative engagement with thearm 18. The pattern chain 17 is provided in this instance with a stop link, as shownin Fig, 9, which carriesa cam 122 in positionto engagethe arm 16 and raise it, thereby depressing the cam 15 into engagement with the arm 18and raising the-rod .19, which through its 7 connection with the arm 20 rocks the shaft 21 and moves the finger 22 in a direction toward the lever 23. This action takesplace on the conclusion of theformation of the main body of the foot of the' stocking'andpreferably a predetermined number of'coursesbefore the commencement of the, knitting of the toe pocket, which is secured by proper placing of the linkcarrying the cam122 in the pattern chain 17, and it also occurs while the lever-23-1s in engagement with the cam 11,

so that theforward endof the lever 23 is heldin its inwardly pressed position with the auxiliary raising cam out of. operative position, and is not permitted to move outwardly under the influence of'the spring 23 After a plurality of courses, of circular knit- V ting have been knit, which. preferably form what I termthe toe band of the stocking,

being the courses immediately adjacent to the toe pocket, and in which I prefer not to have any partial courses formed, the pattern wheel 50 iscaused to move to bring the earn 51 into engagement with the lower end of the an 19 and, give, it a further, movement upward, which 'movement is transmitted eringfcam l into operative position, and at the same time prevent anyfurtherreturn of either the auxlliary cams 1, 1, to operative position so long as the rod 19 remains in engagement with the cam 51 on the pattern .wheel 50. As soon as the: cam 51 has taken charge of the .rod 19, V the further movement of the .pattern'chain 17' removes the. cam 122 from engagement with the arm 16, allowing saidarm to drop under the influence of its spring 16*, and withdrawing "the cam 15 from engagement with the arm 18, which has now been raisedto a higher position, and the parts remain in this position during a revo lution of the pattern wheel 50, during which time the toe pocket is knit by reciprocating work in the usual manner, the leg of the next stocking is knit by circular work and the heel pocket formed by reciprocating work, when the rod 19 will pass off of the cam 51, thus causing the finger 22 to release the lever and permit the .cam 11 on the cam wheel 10 to resume control of the auxiliary raising cam, and also causing the sleeve 25 to release the lever 30 and permit the spring 3O acting on said lever 30 to return the auxiliary lowering cam to its operative position.

In the Banner machine there are provided the usual pickers for throwing certain of the short nib needles into and out of operative position during narrowing and widenin in knitting a heel and toe pocket of th: stocking. These pickers are located on opposite sides of the stitch forming cams and each comprise a short arm 123 pivotally mounted on a stud 12 1- having an axis inclined to the vertical and provided with a light spring 125 normally holding the outer end 126 of the picker in light engagement with and resting upon the nibs of the needles as they are carried around past the knitting or stitch forming cams. This is the usual construction in the Banner machine and the operation of the pickers will not be more particularly described, as it has no bearing on my present invention. Referring, however, to the picker located adjacent to the auxiliary raising cam 1, it follows that if this auxiliary raising cam is moved into operative position and raises the long nib needles, in the manner previously described, the adjacent picker would pass off of the last preceding nib and there would be nothing to support its outer end, which would then fall under the influence of its light spring into such position as to be likely to be struck by the needle nibs when they were restored'to their normal position. In order to prevent this, I provide means .so that whenever the auxiliary raising cam is moved toward the cylinder into operative position with respect to the long nib needles, the adjacent pickeris held against the tendency of its spring to depress it, or slightly raised and held so long as the auxiliary cam 1 is in operative position, so as to prevent the picker from falling below its normal position and being struck by the nibs of the needles, which would tend to break them. To this end I provide on the slide 2 carry ing the auxiliary raising cam 1, a hook 3 which is so formed that when the slide 2 is moved inwardly, this hook will engage the picker adjacent to its point of pivoting, as indicated in Fig. 5, and slightly raise the inner end of the picker and hold it in this position until the slide 2 is again retracted, thus'preventing the picker from dropping when the long nibs of the needles are raised above the picker by the auxiliary cam 1.

In Fig. 12 I have illustrated diagrammatically a stocking made by the'particular machine illustrated in the drawings, in which diagram A-represents the usual ribbed top,

I) the leg of the stocking, which is usually knit with circular courses of plain knitting, C the top of the foot of the stocking, C the sole portion of the foot, D the heel pocket, E the toe pocket, and F what is termed the high spliced portion of the leg immediately above the heel, in which a splicing thread is usually thrown in through the rear portion of the leg for the purpose of thickening the stocking above the heel. In the foot of the stocking I have represented by lines 0, the three complete circular courses and by the lines 0 the partial courses occurring as every fourth course in the sole portion only, the corresponding partial course being suppressed or omitted in the part extending over the top of the foot, it being understood that these partial courses may be formed at the stated intervals (or at any other desired intervals) throughout the entire foot, or they may occur in special parts of the foot, by slightly modifying the pattern control mechanism. As stated heretofore, I prefer to knit a plurality of courses of circular work only, adjacent to the toe pocket to form what I term a toe band, which is indicated at c for the purpose of insuring a proper j oining of the upper edge of the toe pocket with the end of the top of the foot at the point indicated at e, in the usual manner of forming seamless hosiery, by looping or otherwise. It will be seen that as the sole portion, indicated at C, of the foot contains a considerable number of partial courses not contained in the upper portion C of the foot, it will be considerablv longer than the corresponding segment of the foot of the fabric. As a matter of fact, I prefer that the sole segmentC of the foot should be approximately from three quarters to an inch longer than the corresponding segment C of the top of the foot, and this fashions the stocking to fit the human foot, providing ample room for the sole, heel, and toe, and causing the upper part of the foot and instep of the stocking to lie smoothly and avoid wrinkles therein. This also prevents the dragging down of the high spliced portion of the stocking above the heel, which occurs frequently where the upper and lower segment of the foot portion are of the same length, and otherwise contributes to a more perfect fit and adaptation of this seamless hose to the configuration of the human foot.

It will be understood that by slightly modifying the pattern mechanism partial courses can be formed in any part of the circularly knit tubular fabric, as in the leg of the stocking, if desired, for example, imme diately above the heel, and it is also obvious that invknitting any form of tubular fabric by circular knittingv on this machine, a segm'cntal'portion can be provided with partial courses and the corresponding partiali courses suppressed or otherwise omitted in the other segment of the fabric, so as to make the segment of a tubular fabric containing such partial courses longer than th other. g

The process of knitting for'the production of such a fabric, for seamless hosiery or other purposes, and the fabric itself, are not herein claimed as the same form the subject matter of another application filed by me May 5, 1919, Serial ho. 294,784. WVhat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is V 1'; In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a circular series of needles,

stitch forming cam mechanism for actuating all of said needles, to form a circular course of stitches, and a thread guide for-feeding a knitting thread circularly to all of saidneedlesduring circular work, certain consecutive needles for knitting a segmental portionof the tubular fabric being provider with longer nibs thanthose of. the other needles of the series, of anauxiliary raising cam for engaging the long nib needles only, for raising them out of operative relation with the stitch forming cam mechanism'during circular work, an auxiliary lowering cam for engaging said long nibs and lowering them into operative relation with the stitch forming cam mechanism, said auxiliary raising cam being movable in directions toward and from the circular series of needles, into and out of operative relationcircularly to all of said needles during cir- V cular work, certain consecutive needles for knitting a segmental portion of the tubular fabric being provided withlonger nibs than those of the other needles of the circular l series, of auxiliary raising and lowering cams located on opposite sides of the stitch forming cam mechanism for engaging the long nibs only of the needles, said auxiliary raising cam being movable toward and from the circular series of needles, into andout of operative relation with respect to said long nibs, and mechanism for actuating said auxiliary raising'cam r move it into and-out of operative relation with said longnibs, ivhereby'partial courses of stitches can be knit between adjacent circular courses of stitches with the same thread. v

f 3. In a stocking knitte'r, the combination with a circular series of needles, stitch forming cam mechanism for operating said needles during circular and reciprocating work, means for feeding thread to saidneedles during circularand reciprocating work, elevating and depressing mechanism for moving a group of successive needles which knit the frontof the leg and top of the foot of the stocking into and out of operative relation with the stitch forming cam mechan ism, and means for actuating said elevating and depressing mechanism at the beginning and conclusion of reciprocating work, of

auxiliary raising and lowering cams for en gagingsaid' group of successive needles in dependent of saidelevating and depressing mechanism, and-movable toward and from the circular series of needles, into and out of operative position, and means for moving said auxiliary cams into and out of position with respect to said group'ofsuccessivc needles, during circular work, to omitthe for mation of a partial course of'stitches'in the segmental portion of the fabric formed by said group of successive needles; o lgIn a stocking knitter, the combination with a circular series of needles, a group of needles for knitting the front ofthe leg and top of the foot being providedwith long nibs, and the remaining needles being provided with short nibs, stitch forming cam mechanism for engaging the nibs of all the needles, means for supplying thread to the needles for circular and reciprocating work, vertically movable elevatingand depressing cams for engaging the long .nibneedles, and means for shifting said cams at" the beginning and conclusion ofTeciprocati'ng work, of auxiliary raising and lowering cams located on opposite sides of the stitch forming cam-mechan'ism, for engaging thelong nib needles, and controlling means operable dur ing circular work for moving said auxiliary raising cam into and out of operative positionat intervals to effect the formation of a partial course of stitches. 1 V

5. In a stocking knitter, thecombinationo with a circular series of needles, a group of needlesfor knitting the front of the leg and top of the foot being provided with long nibs, and the remaining needles being provided with short nibs, stitch forming cam mechanism for engaging the nibs of all the needles, means for supplying thread to the needles for circular and reciprocating work, vertically movable elevating and depressing cams for engaging the long nib needles, and

means for shifting said cams at the beginning and conclusion of reciprocating work,

of auxiliary raising and lowering cams located on opposite sides of the stitch forming cam mechanism, for engaging the long nib needles, and controlling means operable during circular work for moving said auxiliary raising cam into and out of 'operative position at intervals to effect the formation of a partial course of stitches, and means for moving said auxiliary raising and lowering cams out of operative position, and holding them out of operative position during reciprocating work.

6. In a stocking knitter, the combination with a circular series of needles, a group of needles for knitting the front of the leg and top of the foot, being provided with long nibs, and the remaining needles being provided with short nibs, stitch forming cam mechanism for engaging the nibs of all the needles, means for supplying thread to the needles for circular and reciprocating work, vertically movable elevating and depressing cams for engaging the long nib needles, and means for shifting said cams at the beginning and conclusion of reciprocating work, of auxiliary raising and lowering cams located on opposite sides of the stitch forming cam mechanism, for engaging the long nib needles, and controlling means operable dur ing circular work for moving said auxiliary raising cam into and out of operative position at intervals to effect the formation of a partial course of stitches, and means controlled by the pattern mechanism of the machine for holding both of said auxiliary cams out of operative position during the knitting of the heel and toe and leg of the stocking. V

'7. In a stocking knitter, the combination with a circular series of needles, a group of needles for knitting the front of the leg and top of the foot, beingprovided with long nibs, and the remaining needles being provided with short nibs, stitch forming cam mechanism for engaging the nibs of all the needles, means for supplying thread to the needles for circular and reciprocating work, vertically movable elevating and depressing cams for engaging the long nibs, and means for shifting said cams at the beginning and conclusion of reciprocating work, of an auxiliary raising cam and an auxiliary lowering cam for engaging the long nib needles, movable toward and from the circular series of needles into and out of operative position, means for moving the auxiliary raising cam alternately into and out of operative posi-' tion, at intervals during circular work, a movable picker adjacent to said auxiliary raising cam, and means operated by the actuating mechanism for said auxiliary cam,

for supporting said picker when the auxiliary raising cam is in operative position 8. In a stocking knitter, the combination with a circular series of needles, a group of needles for knitting the front of the leg and top of the foot being provided with long nibs, and the remaining needles being provided with short nibs, stitch forming cam mechanism for engaging the nibs of all the needles, means for supplying thread to the needles for circular and reciprocating work, vertically movable elevating and depressing cams for engaging the long nib needles, and means for shifting said cams at the beginning and conclusion of reciprocating work, of auxiliary raising and lowering cams located on opposite sides of the stitch forming cam mechanism, and movable into and out of operative relation with the long nib needles, a controlling cam operated in timed relation with the machine for bringing the auxiliary raising cam into operative position during certain predetermined courses of knitting, and means controlled by the pattern mechanism of the machine for moving both of said auxiliary cams into inoperative position, and holding them in inoperative position during reciprocating work, and during the knitting of the leg of the stocking.

9. In a stocking knitter, the combination with a circular series of needles, a group of needles for knitting the front of the leg and top of the foot being provided with long nibs, 'and the remaining needles being provided with short nibs, stitch forming cam mechanism for engaging the nibs of all the needles, means for supplying thread to the needles for circular and reciprocating work, vertically movable elevating and depressing cams for engaging the long nib needles, and means for shifting said cams at the beginning and conclusion of reciprocating work, of an auxiliary raising cam and an auxiliary lowering cam located on opposite sides of the stitch forming cam and movable into and out of operative relation with the long nib needles, an actuating lever for moving said cams into and out of operative relation, a controlling cam for operating said, lever to move the auxiliary raising cam into and out of operative position during certain predetermined courses of knitting, and means controlled by the pattern mechanism for imparting additional movement to said lever, for moving the auxiliary lowering cam out of operative position, and holding both of said auxiliary cams out of operative position.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WVILLIAIWI E. SMITH. 

